In quieter and gentler times there was no need for the game’s governors to prescribe what is meant by the “spirit of cricket”. If you were breastfed on the glorious game you knew. It was innate.
For better or worse these are different times and the Spirit of Cricket is now the preamble to the Laws of Cricket. Like most things nowadays it is spelt out. Not so much is spontaneously shared; there’s no time, apparently.
These may be more complicated and abrasive times but if you look hard enough you can still find those precious moments which reassure and gladden the heart.
During play on the third day of the final Ashes Test in Sydney in January 2007, England opening batsman Andrew Strauss collapsed under the impact of a fearful blow to his helmet from Brett Lee, one of the world’s fastest and most competitive bowlers.
It was one of those moments that make an observer’s heart skip a beat. From afar it seemed Strauss was seriously hurt. Instantly, one of those disquieting silences known to all sports and sports followers befell the ground. Those who knew their cricket history gasped and found themselves thinking about, among others, Nari Contractor, Ewen Chatfield, Rick Darling and Rick McCosker distinguished cricketers who had been badly scarred but recovered from dreadful blows to the head in international matches.
As Strauss collapsed the Australians instinctively ran to his assistance. And it was Lee who led the charge. Given the hard-nosed Australians had been so vengeful throughout the series in their quest for a rare and historic whitewash, it was a gesture demanding examination.
Ashes cricket has always been more combative and emotionally-charged than any other contest and although some Trans-Tasman stoushes over the years have come close to matching this intensity. Often relationships between these oldest of adversaries have been strained to breaking point.
But clearly there are limits and for all the combativeness and sledging that characterises modern Ashes cricket, there is mutual regard and respect among the protagonists.
For all his aggression as a bowler and innate competitiveness, Lee is one of the most personable, undemanding, thoughtful and highly principled men in the game.
As it happens Lee and Strauss once played club cricket together at Mosman in Sydney and enjoy a warm friendship. Indeed, earlier in the Ashes summer Strauss spoke eloquently of the mixed emotions of playing against a friend in the rarefied theatre that is Test cricket.
Lee’s first thought was to his mate and he was first to reach Strauss who had been knocked senseless by the wicked delivery.
The game’s authorities have been at pains in recent years to highlight the importance of the spirit of the game and point to cricket’s many traditional values and virtues.
To illustrate their point they may now chose to refer to the photograph of Lee crouching alongside Strauss and signalling to the rooms that his pal needed immediate care.
Perhaps, in time, this image could become as familiar as that wonderful picture of Lee being consoled by the redoubtable England all-rounder and sometime captain Andrew Flintoff after the epic Ashes encounter which saw the home team win by two runs at Edgbaston, Birmingham in 2005. For those who feared that the spirit and conventions of Test cricket had been abandoned to the naked opportunism of the self-absorbed professional player, this was another reassuring, indeed comforting moment.
The drama surrounding Strauss, who, thankfully, was not seriously injured and was able to resume his innings, especially resonated with his enigmatic team-mate Steve Harmison.
It was fascinating to learn during the summer that Harmison is still troubled by the fact he showed so little demonstrable concern when he drew blood from Australian captain Ricky Ponting during the first Test match at Lord’s in 2005.
The photograph of a bleeding Ponting waving to the dressing room for assistance is one of the most telling of that unforgettable series.
While Harmison does not lose sleep over the incident, he has admitted on a number of occasions he regrets his first action was not to go to Ponting. At that time the England coach Duncan Fletcher had directed the England players to keep their distance from the Australians in order to gain some psychological advantage.
Predictably enough Ponting said he did not expect any sympathy from Harmison and was not in the slightest put out that the big fast bowler did not commiserate with him. Ponting is from that tough Mowbray, Launceston school in Tasmania that gives no quarter and asks for none. And that’s before he leaves the dressing room!
To this end it was interesting that next to Lee, Ponting was quickest to Strauss’ aid.
Of course, the more cynical will point out that sympathy is far more likely to be expressed by a team on the verge of a whitewash than by one endeavouring to make a point at the start of a series.
Be that as it may, in all conscience the Australians could not have turned their back on Strauss and their response provided a fine moment and one that in time may be seen as enhancing the richness of the Ashes tradition and camaraderie.